High-Ballin'

Reed and Fonda make a great combo in this truckin' action movie, you wouldn't want it any other way. Reed with a beard, so much resembles one of my Dad's friend's in this movie, it's almost uncanny, like in the way he answers people, especially in one response. Fonda, an ex truckie, a biker here of course, joins Reed on one last route, after a bit of friendly persuasion by Reed. Only this trip becomes one for survival. Truckies are being hijacked and robbed of their shipment and trucks, the players, are people in their own backyard, one a friend of a guy who gets in a fight with Fonda, the instigator, making a funny remark about his non use of roll on. The fight, where the players use irons is disappointing as it's over before it's even begun. The loser, if you can call him that, and it's not Fonda, was trying to crack on to female trucker, prior, a hot number (Helen Shaver) who really gave him a serve with her sweet talking mouth, while nibbling cutely on some jerky. Fonda becomes the hero, taking down this operation, one scene has him and Shaver surviving a shooting in a motel room. This is a fun adventure movie but a good drama too. Another scene where Reed, Fonda, and Reeds's little son, Tanker are being set upon by bad guys, firing bullets was compelling, where Fonda gets up on the second deck of the trailer at the back of the rig, and unhooks these cars, where they come flying back off the trailer into the path of the bad guys, one car making a backfire explosion which I thought was cool. Reed says to himself in the middle of all this chaos. "Oh boy, why couldn't I had a girl". It also had a good showdown between Fonda and his foe's mate, who holds Shaver at gunpoint. Also what was great, was we got to spend some time at home with Reed's family, which very much reminded me of when I was a kid and how I used to sit around the table, talking with Dad's friends. Even though this movie's dated, it's worth a look, another reason why American International Pictures was a cool movie company. Reed's performance here is impressive too.

Having spawned an entire exploitation subgenera of outlaw biker films with his excellent "Easy Rider," could Peter Fonda do the same for movies about eighteen wheels of justice? "High-Ballin'" actually beat "Convoy" by one month on it's release date for being the first movie action movie about truckers (although "Smokey and the Bandit" came out the year before), but it's a pretty silly inconsequential hixploitation flick, and Jerry Reed is really the main character here. Reed and Fonda have to fight off a bunch of trucker thugs hired by a local crime boss who wants to put independent truckers like them out of business. Helen Shaver and Michael Ironside, in his first named-character role (he plays Butch), also appear in the film. Overall, I enjoyed this dumb movie and so will others if you're a fan fo hixploitation/rednexploitation type of films (think good ol' boys fighting one another ALA "Gator" or "Walking Tall"), even if it's pretty routine and nothing all that memorable. "Smokey," "Convoy," and "White Line Fever" are all still better trucker films, but I was entertained by "High-Ballin'."

If you think you might be getting into a jovial SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT type film thanks to HIGH-BALLIN's ad art, think again. What the film delivers is a dark, moody piece set in snowy Canada that doesn't seem to know what direction it exactly wants to go in. Reed plays Duke, an independent trucker who just happens to be next on the list of a bunch of local truck hijackers. Fonda is Rane, an old trucking buddy come to visit for a spell and ends up helping Duke take on the hijackers. Is it supposed to be a comedy? Well, there are some funny moments. Hard ass action flick? Well, there are some cool stunts. Romantic drama? Well, yeah, there are some tender moments. For some reason though, there is that aforementioned dark tone that somehow squeezes out any ounce of humanity and replaces it with an ominous aura that lays itself out on the characters and the landscape. Maybe it's 1970's Canada, as I got the same feeling watching Cronenberg's FAST COMPANY. It may sound as if I don't like this film but I do. It's different and odd, especially for it's genre. Definitely worth a look.

I can't see why people are downing this movie because it doesn't really fit in a genre like Action or Comedy. This is a movie, it tells a story, and some parts are funny, there is some action, there are some serious moments and it is a little dark. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll see some action.

Overall it's a story about a big trucking company trying to squash the independent truckers out of business with Jerry Reed and Peter Fonda fighting against The Man for all the colorful, CB jive talking' independents out there.

The main problem with the movie, in my eyes, is the dreary and bleak scenery and Jerry Reed's overuse of "Son" as a form of address. There are some parts of the plot that are weak and not well explained, like the female lead "Pick Up". She eats at truckstops with the truckers and is on the CB and acts like a trucker but she just drives a pick up truck with exhaust risers and a camper on back. What is her job? Just cruisin' the highways pretending to be a trucker? She almost seems like a trucker groupie/wannabe, a step up from a lot lizard. Also not clear is why the big trucking company wants the independent drivers to quit and start working for the big company. The independents still haul loads for The Man and have to pay his fees. It is never really made clear.

This movie was entertaining all the way through the only real downer was the scenery. Wherever they are up in Canada is dirty, snowy and downright depressing.

If you like trucker movies and Jerry Reed, give it a spin. It isn't as awesome as Convoy it still is a good view.

Better head for Rosie's Truck Stop Diner and order a king size stack of flapjacks! That'll give you a higher burst of energy than losing it from watching HIGH BALLIN'. It's got the right ingredients for a 70s trucker movie including some colorful comedy and a C&W music score with Jerry Reed singing the theme song. To my dismay, it has a terrible amount of substandard action. Few cars on the loose and big explosions do not help. A slippery snow setting makes this tough to get the best results out of a simple little basic chase film that carelessly becomes your simple little basic "Save me!" film. The climax is so nearly desperate that one will have in mind how mixed the entertainment gets. "Pickup" is a very appealing character at first, but she later starts going into an emotionally nervous and frightening breakdown, which brings to mind the harsh violence that can't control itself towards the end. The word "confusing" best describes the movie in general. There hasn't been any trucker films recently, but HIGH BALLIN' may show you its greatest weakness: how not to adapt as a well thought out action film. Just leave the tip.